I Trust You To Care
by moonswirl
Summary: Gleekathon, day forty-one: Quinn needs to know that Will would be a good father.


_So the hiatus is over, I did my twenty-one ficlets and all... but I didn't want to stop ;) So I'm not! I want to see how long I can keep this up, one every day, so off we go :)_

_Also, some of them will be series, not related to one another but tied together by a common element. This first series I've called the "Mix Mash" series. I put the names of 18 Glee characters in a box, pulled them out in pairs, some odder than others, to write a ficlet over._

_Today: **Mix Mash 9 of 9: Will and Quinn**_

* * *

**"I trust you to care"  
Wil & Quinn**

It hadn't registered to her right away that in agreeing to give her baby to Terri Schuester, she was making Mr. Schuester her father. In knowing that, she'd found herself paying more attention to him, almost sizing him up in regards to that position.

It wasn't exactly as though she could tell him in so many words, but she had to know, especially as she'd soon discovered Mrs. Schuester could be… unpredictable. So if she was to see what she needed to see… The smaller moments weren't to be ignored either. The more time she spent in Glee Club, the more she could start to see that it was there…

He had the kind of heart that would take in her daughter and love her… she'd be happy.

She wasn't without worry though. She knew all too well how some people could disappoint you in the worst ways… How you could trust them to be one thing and suddenly discover it was all a lie. This wasn't any insignificant thing she was going to trust Mr. Schuester with. It was her own flesh and blood… so she needed to be sure.

The first morning she'd stepped into McKinley after she'd gone and – for lack of a better term – popped, making no effort to hide it, she'd expected the looks, the snickers. She hadn't expected the way they'd make her feel though.

She'd made herself keep her chin up high, not acting like there was anything to acknowledge as different when of course there was. The effect would just cycle on: First sight, with the tilt of the eyes down to her belly, would create a bubble of silence around them. Once it would reach their mind though, the bubble would burst and with it would come hushed sounds, whispers, 'discreetly' pointed fingers. She didn't even realize how she mentally counted the distance between her and the nearest place she could hide to compose herself again… once she'd break, because as long as they saw her she'd cover the cracks in her shield like the cracks running up a dam coming apart at the seams.

The 'nearest port' revealed itself to be the rehearsal room, with the door having been blissfully left open. She looked inside… no one. She entered, dropping her bag on the ground.

"Quinn?" she startled, looking back. She wasn't alone. Mr. Schuester had only been crouching next to the piano, picking up some sheets he'd dropped. "What are you…" As he stepped around the piano, it was his turn to see what the others had seen. Her eyes went down, her control gone as the tremor of incoming tears took hold of her. "Hey… Hey, hey, Quinn," Mr. Schuester moved to stand in front of her. "It's okay."

"Is it?" she asked, looking up at him. He didn't speak, waiting to let her get out what she had to. She wasn't out right crying, though single tears would roll down her cheeks now and again, at which point she'd reach up to wipe them away. "I knew it would come… I just didn't think it would be like this," she shook her head. Will nodded.

"How are you doing? Everything alright?" he gestured toward her.

"Yeah… If you don't count my pride, everything's a-ok," she joked. He gave her a small smile. She wiped at her eyes, which had stopped welling up. "I'm fine, I promise," she nodded. He gave her arm a pat.

"Want to sit a bit? Give yourself time to…" he mimed what she guessed meant 'calming down.'

"Yeah," she nodded slowly. He pulled a chair for her and she sat. He pulled up the piano bench to sit with her. She looked at him… It was as good of a chance as she could hope for, she realized. She looked down to her hands, in her lap, for an instant.

"Did you…" she looked back at him. "Did you always want children? I mean…" he nodded, showing he understood what she meant to say.

"More or less," he shrugged. "I guess it really became something I wanted once I was with Terri, and I knew things were becoming more serious than…" He was about to say something to the effect of 'a couple of high school kids.' Quinn must have known that was what it was, too. Her eyes shifted aside. Will looked down to his hands, tapping on his knees. "I didn't mean…"

"I know what you meant. It's okay. It's normal," she shrugged.

"No, it's not," he shook his head. "I'm not going to pretend this is something it's not, but… it doesn't mean I can just… lump it all together…" he didn't seem like he understood what he was trying to say, as far as words went, any more than she did, though the sentiment behind it was felt. Either way, it released some tension, and it got her smiling a bit, so he was happy for that. "Where were we?" he looked to her.

"Wanting children," she gave him a nod, and he nodded back. "You're happy, aren't you? About your baby?" she didn't stumble on the distinction for too long. The smile that lit up his face, at the mention of it, just warmed her heart with hope.

"Honestly," he started, and she just nodded along. "I… I can't wait, to hold her, and just…" his hands hovered in the air in front of himself, cradling nothing, and yet…

Quinn just sat there, watching how much his whole demeanor had changed, discussing and thinking of his child… she wasn't so worried anymore. She wasn't even all that aware of the way she'd calmed, it just was.

"It is going to be okay," Will spoke, bringing her back to reality. "They'll have their moment, and then…" he waved his hand.

"Yeah," she nodded. "You just never know until it's happening to you, right?" she looked to him. He gave a smile, then offered his hand to get her up on her feet. She didn't physically need it, but she took it anyway. He bent over to retrieve her bag, handed it to her. "Thanks, Mr. Schuester."

"Any time," he promised. She smiled shyly, moving toward the door. Just before she'd reached it, she stopped and turned back. "Yes?" he asked. She was silent for a second.

"You'll sing to her, right? Lullabies, that sort of thing?" she asked and he nodded. "Which one's your favorite?" she asked, entertaining a need to know. The question caught him off guard, but it made him smirk. He hummed, sung.

"Hush, little baby, don't say a word…" She nodded along, smiled. "Rock-a-bye Baby kind of came off as odd to me…" he shared.

"Yeah, me too," she chuckled. "Do you know, uh… Brahms' Lullaby?" He nodded, and again she smiled, more to herself, also as she spoke. "That was mine." Her eyes turned down to herself for a second, and she was back. She looked back to Will, blinked. "I'll see you at Glee practice," she nodded. "Thanks."

"Sure," he nodded. Finally, she left.

She still got her fair share of looks. She'd been able to collect herself, so she got to block them off. They'd get over it… and she would, too.

THE END


End file.
